Expert: Why mobile needs a different approach

Having ads served at the right time and in the right place and before the right person is crucial in the online space. Study after study have shown this to be true for desktop users, but what about mobile? How can brands better utilize the mobile space to deliver engaged shoppers?

Kristina: Why does mobile deliver less engaged customers than desktop?

Patrick Quigley, CEO, Vantage Media: It is widely understood that mobile advertising is less effective at delivering engaged consumers than desktop. Our study quantified the difference and it was very interesting. For example, the Facebook NewsFeed on desktop is 15 times more effective at producing engaged consumers than on mobile. What makes this an intriguing opportunity for advertisers despite low engagement is that there is so much inventory available to advertisers, and at low costs. So, the holy grail for digital marketing right now is to develop a way to separate browsers from buyers in mobile advertising.

Kristina: In your opinion, what is happening in the mobile space that is disconnecting consumers from advertisers, based on the finding that mobile ads have little ROI?

Patrick: I think the real issues here is that most mobile ads are taking away from the consumer experience and what they are trying to accomplish. This prevents targeting the right person, at the right time, in the right place. Mobile advertising needs to first complement the experience - it must be helping the consumer accomplish the task they set out to do. Second, the advertiser must be able to engage the consumer through a mobile device that makes sense. Advertisers cannot take consumers to a desktop experience on their phone. They also cannot force the consumer to call them. They need to be more thoughtful about the consumer's use case and build an experience that enables the consumer to accomplish what they are trying to do. As an industry, it's very early in addressing both issues since consumer adoption of new devices and media is far ahead of advertiser and ad tech readiness.